My Trails into the Past

Susanna Sievert emigrated with her husband Vincent, and son, August, aboard the ship Johanna Elise on 15 May 1852. [1] They arrived in New York City on 23 June 1852. [2] They settled in Joliet, Will County, Illinois, first appearing on the 1860 census as a farmer, next door to his brother, John. [3] They attended St. John the Baptist German Catholic Church and their son, Peter, was baptized on 5 July 1857. [4] The records begin in 1855, so the baptism of their daughter, Julia Ann in 1854 is not at this church. Not only Vincent and John emigrated, but their sisters did also: Eva, who married Christoph Wienke, and Henrietta, who married Joseph Freitag. Susanna’s sister, Wilhelmine Hartung, also emigrated to the area. These families attended the German Catholic church. So, it is likely when they first came to America that they continued speaking German. Census Records Give Clues The 1860 census doesn’t give any indication of the language spoken. There is a column about reading ...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. My children have ancestors who came from countries where they spoke a language other than English: Sweden, Germany, and Ireland. And even in Germany, the Germans came from specific small lands where different dialects were spoken.  As a Community So, what happened when they came to the United States? The Lundquist family from Skaraborgs län, Sweden, settled first in Jefferson County, Iowa, where other Swedish immigrants were living. [1] This made it easier to communicate, conduct business, and attend church with others who spoke the same language. Children brought up in these Swedish communities also spoke Swedish, at least in the home, as they probably attended school where English was spoken. The men may have...